Aadhaar Biometric Lock

Another Way to Protect Aadhaar Card Data is to use Aadhaar Biometric Lock!!! Biometric is the term used for body measurements and calculations. It is also used to identify individuals in groups that are under surveillance.

Aadhaar Biometric Lock

Another Way to Protect Aadhaar Card

Aadhaar is the document which captures an individual’s personal details along with biometrics like fingerprint and iris, has been mandated to be used for authentication of identity with banks and telecom companies, among others.

The extent of Aadhaar usage can well be gauged from the fact that an average of 4 crore authentications are being done on a daily basis, while over 1,500 authentication have taken place so far.

But not many know or perhaps use a feature called the biometric lock that allows a user to seal or lock their biometric information. Aadhaar Biometric Lock is the lesser known feature which aims at allowing users to safeguard or lock down their biometrics as and when they want.

User can ring-fence their biometrics by simply going to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) website or its app, and choosing the option and entering their Aadhaar number.

A registered mobile number is essential to avail this service.

Once the lock hits into place and the system is enabled, it will simply not accept a biometric request, much like a physical lock blocking an unauthorized access.

A user can unlock for specific transactions and then lock the biometrics back again.

Long before it brought in an extra firewall for privacy with the proposed virtual IDs, the Aadhaar-issuing authority UIDAI had set in place a ‘biometric lock’ as an additional layer of protection against outside intrusions or breach.

Locked Biometrics ensures the Aadhaar holder will not be able to use their Biometrics (fingerprints/iris) for authentications thus preventing potential misuse.

More Information About Aadhaar Biometric Lock

UIDAI CEO, Ajay BhushanPandey says that the idea behind the facility was to “rule out” possibility of anyone even attempting to misuse biometric information.

The authority which issues Aadhar Cards expects the existing biometric lock feature along with new virtual ID facility to be come up to address various security and privacy concerns. Now the Aadhaar owners have to create and use a virtual ID to avoid sharing their unique identity numbers, when using government and other services.

Users from1st March 2018, have the option of generating a 16-digit virtual identity mapped to their Aadhaar number which have to be shared with telecom companies and others at the time of authenticating their identity.

By doing this, the government increases the privacy and security of Aadhaar data and it also concerns around the collection and storage of personal and demographic data of individuals.